Donation Kiosks for New-age fundraising Strategies - the Complete Guide

The psychology of giving – Explained

Before we dive deep into donation kiosk and its benefits, let us go through some of the psychological factors that trigger people’s donating instincts.

1) The feel-good donor

Many of us might have had this sensation. It’s easy to understand, because we all have an ego, because that’s what we are. You might have experienced the “virtuous” feeling when we do good to others, maybe a help of some kind. And that’s what is all about the feel-good donor.

It’s basically a reward system in the brain that gets triggered when you perform a charity or donate. Our brains are wired or trained to experience the feel-good sensation.

However, not all people experience the warmth and feeling of satisfaction or pleasure in the same manner. We’re are all wired differently too.

If the campaign has what it takes to trigger the “inner circuity”, there is every chance for a meaningful contribution from potential donors.

2) Moral donor

The moral responsibility of helping the needful is innate in many people. Religious sentiments, the way people are brought up in families, altruistic perspectives etc. – are all governing factors here. These factors make people think that they should offer a helping hand to the less fortunate in whichever ways they can.

It’s more like an instinctive feeling, rather than something arising out of deep contemplation. Even if they aren’t personally connected to the cause, they simply feel that they are obliged to make their contributions. Moral donors just need the details of the campaign and how the fundraising is going to help the needy. And they are on their way!

3) Approval donor

The societal approval or the approval from your friends, relatives and colleagues or others whom you care, give people a sense of belonging. The “herd” attitude is something fundamental in humans.

The society we live in teach us several values and this teaching process starts from a young age. Doing good to others or making a positive impact on the society, in some way, is considered to be virtuous. And this helps to earn the societal acceptance or approval. The yearning to get this approval serves as a driving factor for charity.

4) The connected donor

If you can connect or relate yourself with a fundraising initiative or with the purpose of a campaign, you’ve greater a chance of becoming part of it.

For example: Someone invites you to participate in a disaster-relief campaign. The chances of participating in that campaign are far greater when you have experienced a life-threatening disaster at least once in your life. The reason is that you can perfectly relate your personal life experiences to the purpose of the campaign. Hence the “connected” donor.

5) Trust-seeking donor

At times, we become skeptical. We come across several campaigns and fundraising initiative across social media on a day-to-day basis. People may carry serious doubts about the legitimacy of the campaigns, and they have every right to think that way.

Therefore, it is the duty of the campaign organizers to build the most-necessary trust in donors. Organizers can build trust in many ways like conveying the purpose of the campaign in a straight-forward manner by communicating the campaign-related information effectively. In order to build trust, the organizer should assure potential donors that the gathered money will reach the deserving without fail.

Transparency in transactions is vital for the campaign to be trustworthy. Yes, trust-building is crucial, especially for trust-seeking donors.

6) FOMO donor

FOMO or the “feeling of missing out” is a much talked-about phrase in marketing blogs, social media and websites by content strategist and marketing professionals.

When others have an exciting or rewarding experience of some kind, you fear missing out the same. This fear or anxiety is known as FOMO. It’s kind of comparing life experiences to that of others

The FOMO donor scenario has close resemblance to Approval donor.

TThe “feeling of missing out” not only applies to purchase-related scenarios. It can influence one’s decision to donate too! As of 2023, 99% of the UAE population has social media accounts. The skyrocketing social media penetration in the UAE indicates a high degree of FOMO among UAE millennials.

Features of Panashi Charity Kiosks

A typical Panashi Charity kiosk comes loaded with all the necessary features to streamline donations of charitable organizations. Our engineers design and develop kiosk machine features understanding the donor’s donating instincts.

The key features are listed below.

• 1. Large, interactive touchscreen Our fundraising kiosks are equipped with large, intuitive touchscreens that drastically improve campaign visibility. Campaign visibility and the location in which the kiosk machine is deployed play a major role in driving donor engagement. The charity organisation may make use of interactive and impactful contents like visuals, clips and messages to convey the purpose and relevance of the campaign.
• 2. Remote monitoring facility The remote monitoring facility enables the organizers to easily monitor the performance of the campaign from a different location. The facility helps the admin in-charge to make strategic changes or updates when it is most-needed. The online and offline functionality of the kiosk machine ensures a seamless campaign experience. Even in offline mode, donation kiosk can display campaign content or promotional materials like videos, animated clips, etc.
• 3. Multiple payment modes Our charity kiosk machines accept payment in multiple modes, so that donors can make payments conveniently. The donors can make use of cash/card/cardless or mobile app payments like Google Pay, Apple pay via the kiosk terminal. The NFC-assisted tap and go payments are highly preferred by donors nowadays due to the ease of payment.
• 4. Multi-language facility The kiosk’s multi-language facility becomes highly beneficial for a multi-cultured and multi-linguistic society like the UAE. The donors can select from a list of languages and select their preferred language to access the details regarding the campaign. I repeat, understanding the campaign and its purpose is instrumental in improving donor engagement.
• 5. Secure payment transactions Security of each and every donation has paramount importance. As we discussed earlier, the “Trust-seeking donor” is always concerned about the security and legitimacy of the campaign. In order to ensure maximum donor security, Panashi donation kiosks facilitate encrypted payment processing. Our kiosks adhere to all the financial and regulatory norms of the region.
• 6. Campaign reporting and analytics the charities can gather crucial donor data like donor preferences and behavior via the kiosk terminal. Donor data can give crucial insights into the performance and success of the campaign. It is a proven fact that data-driven campaigns are far-more successful than the traditional campaign strategies.
• 7. Donation acknowledgement the donor gets instant acknowledgement for each and every transaction either in print or digital format.

Donation Kiosk – Benefits

The benefits of Panashi donation kiosks are listed below.

• Conduct purpose-driven campaigns the charity organisation can effectively communicate the purpose and relevance of the campaign to the public in a highly creative and futuristic way.
• Easy deployment and relocation the charity kiosk machine can be deployed at the perfect spot that receives a decent footfall. The added advantage is the flexibility in operations. The organizers may easily relocate the machine to a better-footfall region or a more convenient spot.
• Multi-currency option Our charity kiosks are highly suitable for busy locales and transportation terminals like airports, malls etc. as they are equipped with multi-currency feature. Currency restrictions won’t be a deterring factor in providing charity offerings, anymore.
• Campaign duration, not an issue Panashi giving kiosks are ideal for both short-term, seasonal and long-term campaigns. During off-seasons, or if the campaign purpose has been met, you may store the kiosk machine in a secure environment, and re-deploy it for the next season.
• Customization benefits you may customize the charity kiosk as per your needs and requirements, which gives you plenty of options to tweak, adjust and repurpose existing campaigns.
• Overcome logistics and human resource constraints The kiosk remains operations 24/7 with least human intervention. The charity organisation can focus more on the campaign without getting distracted by the logistics and human resource limitations.

How to ensure the success of a charity campaign?

You’ve to address several factors to ensure the success of a charity campaign. Whether you are an established non-profit or a local fundraising initiative, you’ve got to stick to the basics. And here are those basic but vital factors.

• Setting campaigns objectives setting a clear-cut, laser-focused campaign goal is one of the most important steps to take prior to the implementation of the campaign. The goal should be practical too. And make sure these objectives are in line with the organization's mission.
• Identify your potential donor Conduct a study on who is your potential donor, who is likely to contribute, age considerations, nationality etc. Your campaign story or content should resonate with your potential donor. If it resonates, they are more likely to reciprocate.
• Story-conveying process Communicate the purpose or relevance of the campaign effectively with your potential donors. You have to be creative here. The basic, tried and tested solution won’t bring much results. Use images, interactive clips, or animations to create a captivating narrative that clearly narrates the purpose of the campaign in layman's terms. Remember, your donors are pre-occupied with tons of distractions. Gaining their attention requires concerted effort and introspection.
• CTA matters Come up with an action-oriented, compelling CTA for the potential donors to reciprocate in favor of the campaign.
• Convenient and secure donations if the donation process involves so much of technicality or complex instructions, the donors are likely to shy away from making any contribution. Offering multiple payment modes can significantly help. We never know if the potential donor carries a card or cash, or if they are interested in mobile app payments. Moreover, the donor should feel the whole donation payment process is safe and secure.
• Prompt acknowledgment provide transaction acknowledgement or receipt either in printed or digital format or both after every successful donation. Proper acknowledgment is necessary to prove the credibility of the campaign.
• Campaign monitoring Monitor your campaign on a real-time basis. Gather donor data like the amount, payment mode selected, transaction time etc. The data provides you with a wealth of information and actionable insights. You could leverage this data to make campaign improvements too.
• Compliance Managing a fundraising initiative involves complying with various laws and regulations. These regulations may change with jurisdictions. Have a precise understanding of all the compliance-related matters to stay away from future troubles.
• Religious sensitivities Understand the cultural and religious sensitivities of the middle-east region. Certain moral and ethical standards have to be ensured, while you are planning to conduct a fundraising initiative in the UAE and the middle-east.

And finally, just a gentle reminder. Expect the unexpected. Be prepared to face challenges and unexpected setbacks. All these are part of the game! We all didn’t expect the infamous Covid pandemic, back in 2020. Did we?

Donation kiosks for mosques in the middle-east

For mosques, investing in a donation kiosk makes sense because it can be used for a variety of purposes, including information sharing and for charity fundraising.

In 2020, there were over 9,000 mosques in the United Arab Emirates, most of which were situated in the Emirates of Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, based on the data published on Statista.

Functionalities of a mosque kiosk

Donation kiosks for mosques are equipped with all the necessary features to streamline donations. The various components are furnished below.

• Interactive touchscreen Once deployed in a suitable area with decent footfall and visibility, the donation kiosk can effectively manage donations from attendees with utmost efficiency. The kiosk touchscreen conveys the purpose of the campaign through animated videos, clips and short presentations. The attendees can read and understand the importance of the initiative via the kiosk touchscreen easily.
• Information sharing The mosque may share information about prayer schedules, or events, important gatherings etc. and maintain a strong bond with its members. Furthermore, the officials can make special requests and publish any information on behalf of the mosque.
• Multi-language feature Charity kiosks for mosques are equipped with multi-language feature that helps members access information in multiple languages. Mosques in multi-lingual societies like the UAE and other middle-east countries can make the best use of this helpful feature.
• Conduct charity fundraising Mosques can easily deploy single or multiple kiosk machines at special events and conduct special fundraising campaigns. With a dedicated fundraising kiosk, charity fundraising is not anymore, a tedious, human-intervened affair. It’s an automated, highly efficient and rewarding initiative that requires a bit of planning and creative-thinking.
• Event promotion Mosques can utilize the kiosk to promote events by displaying all of the important details on the kiosk screen, such as the date, location and time of the event, with supporting photos, videos and other creative inputs.
• Attendee feedback system The feedback functionality of the donation kiosk helps officials to collect valuable feedbacks from attendees.
• Diverse payment modes The attendees can make use of diverse payment modes to make their offerings like cash, card, cardless or mobile payments.

Benefits of a mosque kiosk

Now, it’s not a one-sided affair. The Masjid kiosks are beneficial for both the masjid officials and the attendees. Some of the evident benefits are shared below.

• - Smooth and efficient donations The donation kiosk offers a highly organized and systematic way to gather donations from Friday Jum’ah attendees. Zakat collection becomes easier and efficient with a self-service kiosk.
• - Minimum human intervention The kiosk operation requires minimum on-site human intervention.
• - Reduces the administrative burden on the officials.
• - The mosque can maintain good rapport with the attendees and visitors.
• - Well-informed attendees through efficient information dissemination.
• - Real-time data tracking The officials can track donations on a real-time basis. This means a lot of valuable data at your fingertips.

Panashi Donation Kiosk for Ma’an, Abu Dhabi (Case study)

Ma’an – the authority of social contribution fosters social innovation. The organisation is in the continuous process of cultivating a culture of social responsibility and involvement by bringing together the public, commercial, and civil society.

Ma’an wanted to improve donor engagement and they also experienced shortage of volunteers in connection with execution of charity campaigns.

Solution offered

Panashi provided an advanced 24/7 operational charity kiosk to simplify and streamline the charity campaigns of Ma’an.

Ma’an’s charity kiosk stands out from the crowd thanks to its bespoke UI, large, interactive touchscreen, and state-of-the-art design suitable for both indoor and outdoor settings.

Results achieved

• The charity could conduct purpose-driven charity campaigns and could improve donor engagement to a significant extent.
• Better visibility for campaigns
• Effectively overcome volunteer shortage scenario.
• Streamline donations

Donation Kiosk project for Sharjah Charity International (Case study)

Sharjah Charity International is a well-known charitable organization based in Sharjah and is instrumental in organizing a plethora of charity campaigns across the UAE and the middle-east. The organization is at the forefront of UAE’s charity landscape and undertakes various charity campaigns on humanitarian and social grounds.

In the Middle East, there are numerous nonprofit organizations that run varied fundraising campaigns addressing a wide range of social issues. Sharjah Charity International wanted their campaigns to stand out in the crowd, and thus improve campaign visibility.

Solution offered

Panashi provided a fully-equipped charity kiosk with top-notch functionalities that could streamline donations for the Sharjah-based charitable organisation.

The kiosk machines remain operational 24/7 and plays a vital part in supporting several donation campaigns run by Sharjah Charity International in UAE. These cutting-edge kiosks have a large screen, a unique user interface, contactless payment choices, and a several other user-friendly features that make them truly stand out.

Results achieved

• Improved campaign visibility resulted in improved donor engagement, which in turn helped to gather more donations.
• 24/7 operational donation kiosk
• Human resource limitation in charity operations were successfully overcome through the deployment of self-service charity kiosk.